[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 151 (Wednesday, October 21, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2304-E2305]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            NANCY BOONE FANNING RETIRES FROM INSULAR AFFAIRS

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. ROBERT A. UNDERWOOD

                                of guam

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 21, 1998

  Mr. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I rise to announce that a long-time 
friend of Guam and a dedicated public servant has retired. Mrs. Nancy 
Bonne Fanning, who has worked at the Department of the Interior, mainly 
on island issues retired at the end of September, after 27 years of 
dedicated service to this Nation.
  It is no exaggeration to say that this wonderful lady will be missed 
by her colleagues at the Office of Insular Affairs (OIA), where she has 
been the Chief of Territorial Liaison and Director of Policy and her 
many friends in America's offshore areas. All of us have come to know 
and respect Nancy as a first-rate civil servant who put the interests 
of her staff and her job before those of her own. Over the years, she 
has encouraged the talents and careers of countless subordinates and 
been a strong advocate within the bureaucracy on their behalf.
  She will also be missed by the leaders of America's offshore islands, 
who have come to know and rely on her professionalism, intense 
knowledge of island affairs, and devotion to duty that has always been 
a hallmark of Mrs. Fanning's career. In the process, she has won the 
trust and friendship of numerous island presidents, governors, 
legislators and other leaders.
  In a letter recently sent to Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, the 
Honorable Carl T.C. Gutierrez, Governor of Guam, talked about one area 
in which he believed that Mrs. Fanning has made a valuable 
contribution. The Governor wrote: ``If there is any success in the U.S. 
Coral Reef Initiative, or any of the local initiatives which followed, 
Mrs. Fanning is directly responsible. She worked tirelessly to make the 
Initiative a living document with real and measurable goals and 
direction. Without her support, the damage done to Guam's reefs from 
Typhoon Paka would have been much greater. Nancy worked quickly to 
identify clean-up funds and transfer them to Guam in the most 
expedition manner possible. One of her legacies will be that reefs 
surrounding the U.S. insular areas are healthier and better managed 
because Nancy was there to help.''
  During her years at what is now called the Office of Insular Affairs, 
Nancy has worked on virtually every significant insular issue the 
Federal Government since the 1970's. Included in the long list of major 
issues in which she has participated, are the creation of an elected 
governor for American Samoa, the phase-out of Interior-run 
administration of the former Trust Territory and the introduction of 
local self-government in these Pacific Islands, the Reagan-Bush 
negotiations on Guam Commonwealth, discussions over Guam excess federal 
lands and the introduction of the Asian Development Bank into the 
Federated States of Micronesia and the Marshall Islands.
  As Director of Policy, Nancy used her vast experience with the 
islands and their unique relationship with the Federal Government to 
ensure that the Department of the Interior was able to meet its moral 
and legal obligations to the residents of America's territories and 
possession. In the process, several generations of

[[Page E2305]]

island leaders and a host of Washington officials, including many on 
Capitol Hill, found that Mrs. Fanning was a Federal employee who could 
be depended on time after time to get the job done. It was never a 
surprise to anyone who knew Nancy to find her in her office late at 
night or on weekends, working hard, and never complaining. Those who 
wonder whether Federal workers earn their pay have obviously never met 
Nancy Boone Fanning.
  Nancy Boone arrived at Interior just a few days short of her 
eighteenth birthday from her home in West Virginia in September, 1971. 
She was educated in a one-room school house during her elementary 
school years, and made the decision to seek work in Washington after 
graduation from high school. Nancy's first job at Interior was as a 
secretary with the pay level of GS-3. Twenty-seven years later, she was 
at the top of the Federal pay schedule, a reflection of just how 
valuable she has been to the Department of the Interior.
  With 27 years of long hours and endless commute behind her, Nancy has 
decided to change her life's priorities and devote time to her husband 
Mike Fanning and their young son, Michael. All of us wish her and her 
family the best of success in the future.
  I extend to Nancy my best wishes in retirement and thank her, on 
behalf of my constituents, for the outstanding work she has done on our 
behalf over the years.

                          ____________________